Archives 10 YEARS SONIG:Karaoke Kalk - Autopilot Publishing - De: Bug: the jubilee tour

Historiography is a strange thing: Looking back on chains of chances

and coincidences, they suddenly appear as a logical series of events.

In retrospect, the complex and erratic effects which were triggered by

a multitude of causes are crystallized into the hard facts of history.

1997,

what the hell was going on in the German independent music scene in

that year? Seen from today's point of view, it seams a start-up period

without compare. Labels like sonig, Karaoke Kalk, Tomlab or Monika

Enterprise as well as DE:BUG, the 'magazine for electronic aspects of

living', were founded almost simultaneously. Apparently the country was

infused with an inexplicable hunch of a new beginning - inexplicable,

because the much evoked heyday of dot-com businesses and record

companies was definitely drawing to a close. But to come up with a

satisfactory explanation for this is the task of historiography. We

will simply celebrate it.

To run an independent music

enterprise means to patiently and steadily weave a network.

Competitiveness gets you nowhere; collaboration is the order of the

day. Frank Dommert (sonig) and Thorsten Lütz (Karaoke Kalk) have known

each other for a long time, since both labels had a mutual home base in

Cologne. Karaoke Kalk has since relocated its headquarters to Berlin,

while Sonig still operates out of Cologne, where it is closely linked

to the record store and distribution network a-Musik. Public relations

for sonig and in part also for Karaoke Kalk is provided by Guido

Möbius, who also runs the music publishing agency Autopilot Publishing

where he takes care of the author rights of sonig-artists Vert,

Schlammpeitziger and FX Randomiz. As we said: It's a network.

The

venerable record label sonig can proudly look back on ten years of

unpredictability. Its catalogue comprises 60 releases - no mean feat

for a small independent enterprise - all of which sound totally

different. Yet sonig has managed to create a label sound which has

become an international trademark. Jason Forrest's breakcore-lunacy,

Nathan Michel's finely honed songwriting, C-Schulz's concrete sound

experiments, Vert's exploratory Ragtime pop or the

legs-apart-electronic-rock of Mouse On Mars - what these artists share

is an ingenious sense of humour and a radical approach to their art.

Even

more heterogeneously in musical terms but no less exciting is the

output of Karaoke Kalk. What Thorsten Lütz releases might be even more

unpredictable than his colleague Dommert's products. Each new release

is a complete surprise. When it comes to what gets released and what

not, Thorsten's taste is the single most important criterion. His

choice of artists proves his ability to discern a certain importance in

music. Markus Schmickler's project Pluramon has created a furore, while

the Cologne-based artist Roman has discovered what could be termed as

'radical pop music' as his language. Takeo Toyama is a musical miracle

healer; his fellow countrymen Maher Shalal Hash Baz have created a

truly wonderful (or should that be 'wondrous'?) album in collaboration

with Scotsman Bill Wells. And there are many more examples, too many to

list them all.

Contrary to conventional practice of music

publishers, Guido Möbius cares little about the commercial appeal of

the works he represents. For him, it's an artist's musical profile and

his/her autonomy and integrity that matters. Similar to the

aforementioned protagonists, the musical taste of 'the man in charge'

is a decisive factor. Möbius, a musician in his own right, represents

and works with the copyrights of artists like FS Blumm, Anne

Laplantine, Miwon, Vanishing Breed or Vert. He understands the

activities of Autopilot Publishing as a creative act, not as an

administrative treadmill. Being a PR specialist, he knows how to get

his artists airplay, while the musician can lend his experience in

getting gigs booked. He regards it as crucial that his publishing

catalogue remains a manageably small, so that he won't be deluged by

administrative work.

Berlin-based DE:BUG magazine has been

monitoring trends and developments within the music scene during the

last decade, functioning as a seismograph as well as a stimulus. The

magazine's subtitle 'electronic aspects of living' became the trademark

of a whole cultural epoch between the poles of party, music, culture

and technology. Month by month, DE:BUG provided substantial news on

subjects such as music, club culture, mobile communication, global

networks as well as fashion, politics, film and design - pleasantly

text heavy and on a competent and aesthetically high level.

Each

of those four enterprises has been doing pioneer work these last ten

years. Their anniversary will be celebrated with a joint jubilee tour,

organized by the dear friends of Planet Rock and thus taking in hand

picked venues. So: Here's to the next ten years!


Candie Hank
Groucho Running release info

Groucho

running is a scientific term describing the swift running movement of

elephants. These animals can reach their top speed thanks to a

technique that appears quite funny at first and reminds us of the

legendary Groucho Marx.

Candie Hank (the mischievous alter ego

of Patric Catani) has been messing up the musical landscape from Tokyo

to Sao Paolo for some time now. It all started with a cover of France

Gall's 'Les Sucettes' in collaboration with Hanayo, followed by the

albums Kimouchi on Gagarin Records, Brandy Cramps on the French label

Wilko and a CD release on Solzne Records in Russia (Messer Chups).

Despite multiple other releases with A*Class, Very Impossible Person,

Puppetmastaz, among others, as well as various theatre and film

soundtracks, the artist preferred in this case to produce the album

secretly and as a result ended up on the brink of insanity.

And

it had all started so nicely with Candie. Even though his first

experience in business with his then project, E De Cologne, is kind of

a painful memory in his (tender) heart, he nevertheless managed to

throw in his extreme and absurd music smoothly and funkily, again and

again, as if he were throwing a bottle of good wine into a ballroom. At

the age of 16 the first remixes for Mouse on Mars (Vulvaland) under the

moniker E De Cologne & Test Tube Kid, appeared. Then in 1995, there

was the move to Berlin enabling the start of the band with Gina V

D'Orio (Cobra Killer), EC8OR.

Various tours and releases in

Japan and the US followed; in 1997 EC8OR opened for The Prodigy in

Japan. The Beastie Boys label, Grand Royal, licensed EC8OR's album All

Of Us Can Be Rich for North America and Canada.

In 1999 Patric

Catani produced the first hip hop tracks for the monumental radio play

'Steve Hive' together with Paul PM (Wordsound / Blackhoodz). In 2000,

together with Gonzales, he produced the first tracks for the Jew Funk

project (which aims at your short term memory), along with more and

more collaborations with musicians such as Max Turner and Angie Reed.

2000 also saw Candie Hank's first performances in Tokyo and Osaka.

As

mentioned earlier, Candie's life hasn't always been all jet set and

pure luxury, and of course, there have been one or two confrontations

with colleagues. But even in difficult situations he always managed to

come to the right decision in the end, strengthening his ever-expanding

ego. Sharp tongues describe him as some kind of mogul by now. If you

don't find Candie very likable, Hank only confirms this impression.

However, its really only on stage where he truly lets his arrogance

loose. It's salon music for vampires - laid back terror. It's a frantic

ricochet shot through the rubble of gone eras, a jellyfish tango of the

future. Regardless, at the end of the day Candie Hank couldn't care

less whether digital world music is wanted or not. In his eyes it just

turned out to be 'a mixed German record'.


Guido Möbius
Dishoek release info

Guido

Möbius is a man on the go. Out of his Berlin officerecordingstudio he

operates the Autopilot music publishing house and promotes record

labels such as Sonig, Smalltown Supersound and Klangbad. Additionally

he runs the small emphase label releasing among other things a 7"

series of 1-instrument music and the last album by Anne Laplantine. And

first and foremost he is a musician, now concentrating on his solo work

and live appearances with bass player Alexej Gottschau after playing in

various band formations.

Two years ago his solo debut "klisten"

had the press and music lovers everywhere turn somersaults when hearing

this wonderfully whimsical smorgasbord of countless tiny sounds and

instruments. All material on "klisten" had been strangely interwoven,

laminated and set against each other yet always remaining songs, almost

Pop. And despite all the complexity and craftiness it never sounded

difficult, academic or pompous. One could dive into this music or

simply move within it and discover a new plant behind each corner. But

one would never be led astray by it. And if you walked the same path a

few days later suddenly new buds had grown and someone might have

carved a few weird symbols into the trees.

And just before we

started to miss Guido Möbius he surprises us with "Dishoek", his second

album, recorded for Hamburg's Dekorder label. Again featuring a

conglomeration of acoustic and electrical instruments (guitar, bass,

violin, cornet drums, synthesizer, clarinet among other things.) and a

variety of guests, so that one hardly dares to call it a solo album.

Still everything is magically held together by one single person.

Melodies and noises, styles and individual characteristics,

intelligence and humour collide and become friends for live. We hear

Krautrock minus Rock, Folk minus tronics, Pop minus popular;

Psychedelia meets Improvisation meets Electronica without the slightest

know-it-all approach. Styles get intermingled, copulate and finally

dissolve completely to become only music without the need to be

labelled because it is functioning completely within its own context

and never fails to astonish. The computer remains a tool, never an end

in itself and the alleged separation of acoustic and electronic music

becomes completely obsolete. With its wily down-to-earth approach

"Dishoek" proves that an eagerness to experiment and the will to

explore unknown territories do not have to sound arduous yet always

have the ability to gently surprise any adventurous listener.

"There's

little to be said for "Klisten" beyond celebrating its endless capacity

to delight, confound and unsettle through its unlikely instrumentation

and arrangements and a complex rhythmical sense. Its beauty is of the

gratious, thing in itself variety. All the more reason, strangely, to

fall in love with it."
(THE WIRE)


Jason Forrest
Shamelessly Exciting release info
www.cockrockdisco.com

Jason

Forrest (aka Donna Summer) made heads turn with his third album and

first release on Sonig, The Unrelenting Songs of the 1979 Post Disco

Crash, a musical rollercoaster ripping through genres like an

amphetamine crazed hobo. It received rave reviews from a respected

array of international press; a remarkable accomplishment for such an

odd and ambitious mix of high-speed disco and breakcore with a 70's

swagger. In addition, Res magazine awarded it's Clip of the Year to the

video for "Steppin? Off" (directed by Jon Watts), leading Watts to

secure a contract with Fatboy Slim for two further videos and a host of

A-list clients.

But the question remains, can Jason Forrest top

this success with his upcoming release, Shamelessly Exciting? A few

beats into the album and you're left with no doubt - yes, he can and he

does it in style! Cascades of pieces taken from virtually every form

of rock (progressive/hard/soft/punk/blues) pour down more heavily than

in previous releases. Even more intense is the shattering of sounds

and samples - -every single one of them vying for the listener's

attention. Forrest sets off fireworks of ideas and references exuding

enormous energy on the way, filling every possible nook with a rocking

good time.

An overview of Shamelessly Exciting begins with

'Walls Of The City Shake', a fist-pumping anthem of maximum intensity

featuring David Grubbs on piano. Forrest refines his conceptual

cut-and-paste aesthetics in "My 36 Favorite Punk Songs" on which you

can literally hear Forrest's 36 favorite punk songs, cut up and mixed

to 2:20 minutes. Then he flips to something more appropriate for 70's

AM radio with 'Dreaming And Remembering' and 'Skyrocket Saturday' -

both tributes to forgotten pop heroes and one hit wonders. "War

Photographer" gets down to a funky blend of big beats and a kicking

brass band and "Evil Doesn?t Exist Anymore" is a massive blues-fueled

masterpiece where Forrest collaborates with Norwegian experimental

artist, Maja Ratke. Yet the biggest surprise on the album is

"Nightclothes and Headphones" featuring Matador recording artist and

renowned country singer Laura Cantrell. This beautiful and completely

disarming pop song further proves just how versatile and unpredictable

Forrest really is.

Jason Forrest is not ashamed of being a fan

and he uses every kind of music, even those tunes once described as

"bad taste", as his resource. Poaching in these fertile hunting grounds

with competence, boldness and knowledge, yet retaining a seriousness

and refined sense of depth, Forrest guarantees lasting euphoria in an

otherwise disillusioned industry.


Sun O.K. Papi KO
Orchestre Philharmonok release info
www.rbdx.com

While

the freewheeling folklore of "new weird America" is currently the talk

of the town and UK-based improvising artists are turning into

underground heroes overnight, hardly anyone seems to notice Belgium has

a similarly vibrant scene whose protagonists take themselves far less

seriously. For example, the release of the musical teeming ant heap by

Uske Orchestra was only released a few weeks ago, Fan Club Orchestra

now have a Japanese branch, and brothers Laurent and Nicolas Baudoux,

known as the lunatic-genius Scratch Pet Land, are now going their

separate ways. Nicolas released a breathtaking debut at the end of 2004

as DJ Elephant Power, and now it is his brother Laurent?s

turn...Welcome to the stage * SUN OK PAPI KO!!

It goes without

saying Orchestre Philharmonok (what is this Belgian obsession with

orchestras...) presents music that has - seriously - never been heard

before. Ok, ok, Scratch Pet Land's influences are never far away, but

Laurent Baudoux lifts the cocktail of broad bass, game boys, hook lines

played on trashy keyboards and wooden cracking beats, up to the next

level. Bizarre string instruments, probably stemming from the far East,

twist and turn to lofty heights, yet most of it sounds like a new kind

of synthetic plastic with an unrestricting innovative seal of approval-

even the metal guitars.

SUN OK PAPI KA creates his music as a

genius dilettante, a professed non-virtuoso. Only with the innocent

attitude of the enthusiast can music be created so free from any desire

to repeat or to sound like something else. We would like to stress this

point especially since this debut invites countless references to

current pop music. Orchestre Philharmonok is full to the brim with

serious euphoria about club tracks without club and avant-garde without

music theory. This doesn?t mean certain pop styles are ridiculed or

quoted, no, it is authentic fan admiration that gives this record its

astonishing appeal. For example, all the Grime tracks on SUN OK PAPI OK

are like wildly sketched Grime drawings of a hyperactive spurred-on

child -- like little plays in which the player puts on his Grime hats

and then fully submerges himself into this role, forgetting everything

around him. With the determination of a sleepwalker he twists dry

grooves, pointed sub bass notes and catchy
melodies managing with

just three or four notes to take the listener?s the breath away.

Everything comes across as if it had just been made up. It?s a euphoric

search for the new and unknown, which cannot be tied down to clichés

and style references, but keeps looking ceaselessly for unexpected

turns at an incredible speed.

And then enters the surprise

guest -- the appearance no one could have foreseen: The unique MC

ILLREME !!! One has to congratulate Laurent on his of choice of

Japanese guest MC (whom he has never actually met in person, nor even

talked to personally due to language and geographical barriers).

Illreme is a real star in Japan. He could be described as the inventor

of comedy rap, and he raps in a wonderfully offensive and energetic way

(and in Japanese), but without any Gangsta attitude. He is distinctly

uncool and fun. He is the antidote to the b-boy -- the a-boy. With ?a?

as in ?all is allowed that doesn?t restrict.? Or as in: ?all blasting

out together!".


Roman
So Ghost release info
www.myspace.com/romanmusic

Describing

this music without using superlatives is impossible. With "so ghost?"

the Cologne musician Roman hassucceeded in squaring the circle, that is

he has created pure genuine pathos. Nobody's ever thought this possible

andhow could they know better?

Great pop meets great gesture -

Roman's music is enthusiastically raised arms waving from every corner.

But thenagain it's more than just that: giving simple judgements about

"so ghost?" is not so easy. See, we're dealing with a highly demanding

Janus-headlike album that is changing its face with every track.

Concernig his sounds and arrangements Roman turns out to be a true

dare-devil. Female choirs, over-amplified basses, staked-out keyboards

and fan's noises from the background contrast with professional a

capella interludes. And overlaying everything is this voice somewhere

between Aztec Camera, Style Council and U2.

Under the reign of

Roman's honey-sweet bariton the tracks are living a merry life of their

own. An acoustic guitar (slightly out of tune) meets plastic synthies

and a bolting drum computer. Roman is capable of just everything: in

the twinkle of an eye he skillfully arranges the most beautiful string

themes just to tear the whole thing to pieces again with a Gameboy's

buzzing noises. And despite all its pomp and glory "so ghost?" still

preserves the DIY-charme of the bedroom production.

Is this still common sense? Has he ever asked the permission of the contemporary pop-intelligentsia? Probably not.

"so

ghost?" is bold and cheeky to the extent where impudence becomes pure

pleasure. Roman is completely lackingthe alleged virtue of courteous

modesty. He does not fear nor hide his own greatness. With the most

superiour self-consciousness genuine club-stompers shake hands with

sambaesque romances. Much of this isn't meant too serious and so

nonchalant it proves Roman's got a good deal of ironic self-distance.

Anyway he is not afraid of allowing silliness to his music. But his

voice is giving the impression of seriousness with every note it sings.

This

music is referring to nothing else but itself. Or at least no

appropriate references will come to our minds. We wish Roman all the

waved lighters, thrown-to-the-stage teddy bears and swimming-in-tears

girls' eyes this world has to give.

See, he's just earned it.


Senking
jens

massel is kandis - is senking - is fumble. and as such he has been

responsible for more than half the releases on karaoke kalk. you can

argue about sense or nonsense of "multiple personalities" to represent

and differentiate musical output; sometimes it seems fitting, sometimes

not. as to jens massel, it should be said that it was the right

decision. the musical superstructures of his various pseudonyms are so

diverse that they could not have worked under one single name. the

specific differences in jens massel's music are difficult to outline

though. to put it into a few words: for jens, "kandis" is the more

groovy pop music version, while "senking" is more soundtrack-oriented.

the third project, "fumble", is a combination of both styles: playful

beats, tricky and intricate on the one hand; relaxed and laid back with

beautiful melodies on the other.

In the early 90s jens played

bass in several indie-rock and punk bands. In 1995 he bought his first

keyboard which set off his interest in electronic music. slowly, his

music equipment grew and he moved away from the band concept and

towards what we would now call the classic "bedroom producer". Before

he followed this path though, jens played keyboard in the semi-celeb

band "genf", who became quite famed with some releases on the cologne

label "finlayson" and the munich label "compost" in the course of the

then prominent post rock revival. in 1998 "genf" split up, and jens

began to focus solely on his solo-projects.

jens massel toured

japan together with jörg "wechsel garland" follert. there he will play

bass - as he used to in the past - in the "wunder" creator's band.

early influences on jens massel's music were:

-the early aphex twin and mu-ziq stuff
-reggae
-bohren und der club of gore
-talk talk's "laughing stock"
-melvins
-the sea & cake
-eric b. & rakims "follow the leader"
-mouse on mars

noton and comet of the raster-noton label from chemnitz appeared on the

scene. In addition to his work on karaoke kalk, jens started to release

on this label as well.


DJ Bleed

DJ Bleed, born as Sascha Kösch 1965 close to Cologne is a Berlin based Journalist and DJ.

Together

with fellow DJ Triple R (Riley Reinhold) he formed the Cosmic Orgasm

Soundsystem, which existied until 1995 and played a crucial role in the

distribution of Techno music in Germany.

He was and is still

writing for numberless magazine including Frontpage, Spex, Telepolis,

House Attack, Jungle World. Bleed is the editor of the influential

DE:BUG magazine which he co-founded in 1997.


DJ Strobocop

Strobocop

aka Thorsten Lütz has been among the most acclaimed DJs from Cologne's

meandrous electronic music scene since years (to which he stays closely

linked even after moving to Berlin). This reputation he gained from the

early Electrobunker events of the nineties, from his association with

the De:Bug DJ crew and from touring europe extensively with DJs and

live acts such as Thomas Brinkmann, Triple R, Michael Mayer and Air

Liquide.

Thorsten Lütz founded the label Karaoke Kalk in 1997,

which accommodates artists such as Wechsel Garland, Roman, Donna

Regina, März and Hausmeister. He represented his label as a DJ at the

2002 edition of Sonár in Barcelona and the Benicassim festival 2003.

Beginning 2005 the Karaoke Kalk Sublabel "Kalk pets" was established, which is mainly focusing on Techno/House music.

Musically

Strobocop's DJ-sets move - contrary to the releases on his label -

between Minimal House and Techno, frequently supplemented by excursions

into pop history.